ROGER AGBADI v. THE REPUBLIC
2018
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- KUSI-APPIAH, JA (PRESIDING)
- C. J. HONYENUGA, JA
- DENNIS ADJEI, JA
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence Law
2018
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The case involves the appellant and three others being convicted for conspiracy to commit robbery and substantive robbery, resulting in sentences of 10 and 20 years respectively. The appellant appealed the conviction and sentence, arguing inadequate consideration of his case and improper identification. The High Court reduced the robbery sentence to 15 years, while the Court of Appeal upheld the convictions and sentences, concluding that the prosecution had sufficiently proven the charges. The court also identified and addressed the burden of proof, standard of proof, essential ingredients of robbery, proof of conspiracy, and sentencing principles in reaching its decision.
HONYENUGA, JA
The appellant and three others were convicted by the Circuit Court Accra on the 4th day of April, 2014 on the offences of conspiracy to commit crime to wit robbery contrary to Sections 23(1) and 149 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 as amended by the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Act, 2003, Act 646.
They were also convicted on the substantive offence of robbery contrary to section 149 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 as amended by Act 646 for having robbed their victim of one Toyota Camry car, 2 pieces of jewelry, 4 Laptops, 5 Mobile phones, 3 Digital Cameras, 2 Cameras, One portal storage disk drive, three children watches, three ladies Tissot watches, one Toshiba flat screen Television, two DVD players, one DSTV Decoder box, one ladies blouse, two torches, one Moet Champagne, one Large suitcase, 38 CDS all to the total value of GH639, 964.
The trial judge sentenced the appellant and three others each to ten years with hard labour on the conspiracy charge but sentenced each convict to twenty years with hard labour.
The facts of this appeal were that on the 18th day of March 2010, at about 11am, the Regional Police Headquarters, Accra acting upon a tip off that a group of four young men suspected to be robbers were offering one Toyota Camry vehicle Number GT 844 X for sale.
A team of Police detectives then went to the scene where they arrested the appellant, the second and fourth convicts and retrieved the said Toyota Camry vehicle.
Upon interrogation, the convicts mentioned the third convict, a house boy to one Aku Orleons-Lindsay, the complainant in House Number 6, Monrovia road, East Legon as the one who led them to the said house.
A search conducted in the house of the second convict located at Sowutuom led to the retrieval of all the items listed on the charge sheet including a toy pistol, one hammer, one spanner, one chisel, one plier, one screw driver, one kitchen knife and one scissors.
The complainant later in the day reported to the Police that at about 9am that morning, she had a call from her housemaid, Janet Afful that about 8. 30am, a group of robbers entered her house and armed with a pistol, tied her up with rope and stole all the items listed in the charge sheet.
The housemaid later identified the appellant and others as those who entered the house and robbed.
The complainant identified all the items retrieved from the second convicts house as hers.
Upon hearing the case to its logical conclusion, the learned Ci